Louisville, Kentucky; April, 2008. Albert Mohler has just concluded his lecture at the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference. I make my way to the front of the auditorium, clutching my copy of Dr. Mohler’s new book, Culture Shift, hoping to get it signed by the man himself. If successful, this will be the second signature I have acquired, the first being that of John MacArthur on the new 25th anniversary edition of The Gospel According to Jesus. I feel confident — not in my chances of getting the coveted signature, but of something far more important: not saying something stupid in the few seconds I will have in his presence. I managed to maintain my dignity with my Favorite Living Theologian, Dr. MacArthur, even making a couple of intelligent comments; surely I can manage it with Mohler, as well.

I wait behind the ropey-thing that separates the celebrities from the groupies while Dr. Mohler converses with a young seminary student (I know he is a seminarian because he has that broke-but-trying-very-hard-to-look-scholarly appearance). He approaches, pausing momentarily to jot a note on a scrap of paper and hand it to one of his minions. Suddenly, it strikes me: he has more brains in that fancy fountain pen than I have in my whole body. Like a child ducking behind his mother’s skirt, my brain sneaks away. My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. I silently hold out my book, only vaguely aware of how stupidly mute I am. Dr. Mohler looks at me expectantly; I say nothing. He takes the book, signs it and hands it back. Finally, my tongue breaks loose.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he replies, and moves on.

Back at my seat, I open the book. It is signed, “To David.” I spend the remainder of the day, name tag hanging around my neck, wondering how he knew my name.

This could be me.

Together for the Gospel 2008 was a great experience, one of the highlights of, oh, the last several years. But, as most of us know, high points are often followed by depressing lows. Such has been the case with me.

Arriving home after a grueling but exhilarating week of fellowship and fun, giddy with excitement and fairly bursting with experiences to share with my dear readers, I began posting. I posted pictures. Then the comments came rolling in. Several readers who had been at the conference wrote in praise of my wife, who was surely deserving, but were rather less complimentary of yours truly. (One fine fellow said I looked like an Oxford professor, which I think was a compliment, but then I‘ve never seen an Oxford professor, so I don‘t know.) While she was described with such adjectives as “terrific,” “wonderful,” and “lovely,” I was pretty much ignored — at least until one character who shall remain nameless called me “weirdo,” and his progenitor, who shall remain hairless, besmerched my necktie. I wonder: does he even know how to tie a tie? I’ll bet he wears clip-ons. Sorry, I’m wandering.

Anyway, you can probably understand, then, why my self-esteem might have been trampled on . . . that is, might on have been trampled . . . or something like that. (On top of it all, I’m still struggling with prepositions.)

Then, finally, one kind lady — with impeccable taste — said I was a “sharp dressed handsome fellow.” I perked up. My wife said she was “just being polite,” but I know better. Yes I do. I do so! I read it again: sharp dressed handsome fellow. And again: sharp dressed handsome fellow sharp dressed handsome fellow sharp dressed handsome fellow. ZZ Top began playing in my head. Da-dum da-daah, da-da-dum-daah, da-da-dum . . . Yeah, that‘s it, you know what I mean . . . They come runnin‘ just as fast as they can . . . What? Oh, sorry, I was daydreaming again.

Well, that was only the beginning. While it‘s nice to be admired superficially, we all want recognition that is more than skin deep. We want to be recognized for our character and intellect, don‘t we? Mine was coming. My blue funk was finally and completely dispelled when, on his very own blog, no less a scholar than Dr. Michael A. G. Haykin, a man with two — two! — middle initials, called me “brilliant.” Brilliant brilliant brilliant . . . So there. I guess my terrific, wonderful, lovely wife is lucky to have me.

I had meant to write something more substantive about Together for the Gospel, but failing that, and as a suppliment to this post, here are —

Things I liked about Together for the Gospel 2008:

• Books. Who doesn’t like free books?
  • Band of Bloggers
    • Christ is All: The Piety of Horatius Bonar ed. by Michael Haykin and Darrin Brooker
    • The Mortification of Sin by John Owen (Puritan Paperbacks, Abridged)
    • Walking as He Walked by Joel Beeke
    • reThink by Steve Wright
    • Dear Timothy: Letters on Pastoral Ministry ed. by Tom Ascol
    • When I Don't Desire God by John Piper
    • Young, Restless, Reformed by Collin Hansen
    • A Tale of Two Sons by John MacArthur
  • Together for the Gospel
    • English Standard Version (ESV) Compact Bible
    • The Truth of the Cross by R. C. Sproul
    • Culture Shift by Albert Mohler
    • If You Could Ask God One Question by Paul Williams and Barry Cooper
    • The Gospel & Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever
    • The Faithful Preacher by Thabiti Anyabwile
    • In My Place Condemned He Stood by J. I. Packer and Mark Dever
    • The Future of Justification by John Piper
    • Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin
    • Pierced for Our Transgressions by Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, and Andrew Sach
    • Why We’re Not Emergent (by Two Guys Who Should Be) by Kevin Deyoung and Ted Kluck
    • Preaching the Cross by Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C. J. Mahaney, & Albert Mohler
    • The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur
    • The Courage to be Protestant by David Wells
    • Christ & Culture Revisited by D. A. Carson
• Community. It was exhilarating to be surrounded by thousands who were not only thinking about the same things I do, but, in many cases, thinking the same things about the things I think about as I do.
• Fellowship. Although there was not nearly enough free time, it was wonderful to visit with like-minded Christians. The immediate familial bond was evident, from the kind words we received from some, to the good-natured insults we — that is, I — received from others.
• Music. The songs were very well-chosen, and Bob Kauflin did an excellent job leading the singing. It was so moving to sing these great hymns of the faith in unison with thousands of brothers and sisters.
• Preaching. Oh, yes, there was preaching. You can, and should, go here to download the General Sessions and Panel Discussions. Be prepared to be encouraged, challenged, and convicted.
• Ligon Duncan. Duncan demonstrated why faithful pastoral ministry cannot exist without sound theology.
• Thabiti Anyabwile. Have I mentioned that I can pronounce his name? Thabiti Anyabwile. See there, I did it again. I spelled it right, too, even though spell-check disagrees. Thabiti gave the best message on “race” that I have ever heard, saying what I have believed for years, but applying it in ways that have never even occurred to me.
• John MacArthur. MacArthur was, as always, MacArthur. His message, The Sinner neither Able nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability, left me feeling like a sinner, and all the more grateful for the grace of God and the cross of Christ.
• Mark Dever. Dever spoke on Improving the Gospel. In short, you can‘t, so don‘t.
• R. C. Sproul. Sproul is one grand, magnificent old man. Due to the vertigo he suffers from as a result of a stroke a few years ago, he was wheeled in and out of the auditorium, and sat behind the podium. Yet, as he preached, there was no hint of frailty. He preached with all the passion and drama that those who have listened to him for years have come to expect.
• Albert Mohler. Can there be any doubt that Mohler is the smartest man in the world? Mohler dismantled the arguments against Penal Substitution with great clarity.
• John Piper. Piper is one of those uncommon preachers whose passion is not a substitute for substance.
• C.J. Mahaney. What is one to think of Mahaney? I‘m afraid he is one of those people who I wouldn‘t want to meet before noon.

I still haven’t recovered from my week of travel and conferencing, and I’m a little busy today. I also have a dentist appointment this morning. Since I promised more on Together for the Gospel 2008, and I don’t have time to really think about it, I give you —

Things I didn’t like about Together for the Gospel 2008:

• Too much packed into one day. It would have been nice to have had more time for fellowship. The same conference spread over four days instead of three would have been nice — and far less exhausting.
• I registered too late to get a room in the hotel I would have preferred, causing some inconvenience. The conference organizers should have warned me. I blame Mark Dever.
• I ate too much on Tuesday. Phil Johnson sat next to me eating nothing but a salad — with an air of superiority, I might add — and I was compensating for him.
• The books were too heavy. All those ushers in their nifty vests should have been assigned to carry them to our cars or hotel rooms for us.
• I had John MacArthur sign The Gospel According to Jesus and spoke briefly with him. He didn’t ask to join me for lunch.
• I had an argument with my wife. Clearly, someone was quenching the Spirit. I think it was Mahaney.
• Louisville is too far away. I propose the conference be moved to Bismarck, North Dakota for 2010. Seriously, can you think of a more central location for the US and Canada? I didn’t think so.
• 1200 miles, one way. $3.59/gallon gas. 14 miles/gallon.
• We had drinks at the Galt House on Thursday evening. Two drinks, $13.00. T4G should have arranged discounts in the hotel bar. This, no doubt, is Mohler’s fault.
• T4G. I despise the internet shorthand that spawned this. I despise the fact that I have stooped to using this abbreviation myself a few times. How difficult is it to type out Together for the Gospel? Not difficult at all, IMHO.

Here are a few pictures from the Together for the Gospel Conference last week. I tried to get pictures of everyone I met, but I didn’t have my camera with me some times, and other times I just forgot. I created images of a couple of those of whom I failed to actually get pictures. There were actually several, but when you see how much work I put into the ones I did, you’ll understand why I only did two. See if you can guess which are the doctored photos.

Me & Tim Challies. After more than three years of reading Challies.com and having the privilege of becoming friends with the World’s Most Famous Christian Blogger®, I finally met the man himself. I was thankful that I had boned up on my Canadian so the language barrier was not too difficult to overcome.

Me & Phil Johnson. What a pleasure it was to meet Phil. No ministry has impacted my life to the extent that Grace to You has, so it was truly a delight to meet the man who keeps that ministry running and edits the majority of John MacArthur’s books. I have also benefited greatly from his Spurgeon Archive, The Hall of Church History, and his Famous Annotated Bookmarks. Oh yes, I think he blogs somewhere, too. My wife (who is not in any of these pictures because she took them) and I got to sit at the end of the table with Phil and his wife Darlene at lunch on Wednesday. During the course of conversation, Phil confessed that Darlene reads his blog posts before he posts them and “tones [him] down.” I can’t imagine why that’s necessary.

Me & Jeremy, Garry, & Steve Weaver. I was excited to meet these guys, and unfortunately did not get the time to visit much with them. Jeremy was much more reserved and well-behaved than I expected. Actually, they all were.

Me & Timmy Brister. Timmy organized the Band of Bloggers meeting that took place just prior to the conference. I would almost have traveled the 1200 miles to Louisville just for that.

Me & Steve Berlew. Steve is the Banner of Truth man, and as such is worthy of reverence. I was careful not to touch him, so as not to dim his shekinah. I’m afraid, though, that he touched me, so if something flaky turns up on the Banner site, it’s probably my fault.

Me & Hank Balch. One of the non-conference highlights of the week was meeting this young Texan SBTS student and having lunch with him on Thursday after the conference. He was kind enough to drive us to Chick-fil-A (I was told we must go there). He also called my wife “Ma’am” until she very nearly fell in love with him. Public service announcement: Hank needs a wife, and he has my endorsement. Your daughters would be blessed to snag a guy like him.*

Me & Jonathan Moorhead. By the providence of God, Jonathan was able to get a last-minute spot at the conference, so we were able to have a good time of fellowship with him. Jonathan is a TMS graduate and has just been ordained to the ministry and finished his Ph.D. at DTS. He and his family will be leaving soon for Samara, Russia where he will teach at Samara Preachers’ Institute and Theological Seminary. Click here to learn more about this ministry and how you can support it.

Me & Paul Martin! Paul is Tim Challies’ pastor, and approximately 7’13” tall! He is a much better preacher than he was a Prime Minister! Paul smiles a lot and uses far too many exclamation points!

Some of the other bloggers I met and failed to shoot were:

Dan Phillips, who is a very unassuming, pleasant, mild-mannered fellow.

Frank Turk, who would probably be surprised to learn that I was very disappointed that I didn’t run into him again after our initial meeting at Band of Bloggers.

Thabiti Anyabwile, who was also a conference speaker. Thabiti is a warm and very authentic guy. That doesn’t, however, mean that emergents should like him. I feel that I must inform you that I knew how to pronounce his name before I heard it, although I cautiously refrained from doing so out loud until I was sure. No, I’m not bragging. Thabiti also brought his wife, Kristie, who reads this blog and is more attractive than Thabiti, although not as tall.

I will have more on the conference later this week.

Timmy Brister has posted some more information for those who will be attending the Band of Bloggers fellowship prior to the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference:

Making the Trip to Band of Bloggers

As we are less than two weeks out, I wanted to provide the details for the 2008 Band of Bloggers fellowship. I will be tying up loose ends in the days ahead, but for now, here is all the information you would need to know for this year’s event:

General Info:

2008 Band of Bloggers
“The Gospel Trust”
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 :: (11:30 - 1:30)
The Galt House (Louisville, KY)
Combs-Chandler Ballroom
Tim Challies, Justin Taylor,
Thabiti Anyabwile, Phil Johnson, and Abraham Piper

We will begin serving lunch at 11:30 a.m. as you arrive. There will be greeters and volunteers who will help direct you to the Combs-Chandler room which is on the second floor of the Suite Tower of the Galt House. The panel discussion will begin at noon and will last one hour. We will conclude with a time of corporate prayer and fellowship before we conclude at 1:30 p.m. Lunch will be your choice of either turkey or ham sandwich in a boxed meal which also includes beverage.

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Today is the last day to register for the 2008 Band of Bloggers gathering that will take place prior to the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference.

The theme for the 2008 Band of Bloggers is “The Gospel Trust,” and the guest speakers who will comprise the panel include Tim Challies, Justin Taylor, Thabiti Anyabwile, Abraham Piper,and Phil Johnson. Timmy Brister, the event‘s organizer, has arranged for some great books to be given away to all who attend.

This may also be your only chance to see what I really look like, as well as meet the many other bloggers in attendance.

Addendum: If you are among the boggers who will be attending T4G and plan on blogging the conference, please leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog.